Fernando Torres' Resurgence Can Only Be Good News for Chelsea

It might be a little too early to remark that Fernando Torres has returned to his "old self," but the intention is there, and the results are too.

In literal terms, the phrase is incorrect because the "Torres of old" is a thing of the past. The player himself has aged as well as changing teams, and therefore, he will not ever be the same as he used to.

Figuratively speaking, it's an exciting prospect. Not just for Chelsea fans, but for English football in general. The media used to adore Torres, the way he ran at defenders such as Nemanja Vidic and made a complete fool of them.

Sure, he was a little selfish at times, but that was accepted because he produced goals like they were running out of fashion.

The Spaniard endured a tough start to his career at Chelsea, though, and he has never fully recovered. Just 16 Premier League goals in 89 games have followed since his £50 million move from Liverpool in January 2011.

Torres himself accepts that his return is not good enough, per Goal.com: "The people are looking at me thinking I should do much better, and it's true. The reason you pay that money for someone is that he has shown in the past he is worth that."

"Now, what you have to show is you can have the same value or even more value for things you have done at Chelsea."

The key statistic here is that in only 79 games for Liverpool, he had already scored 56 times in the Premier League. Comparing the two records, one would feel slightly depressed if you were a Chelsea supporter.

But in the summer, something changed. Jose Mourinho arrived for a second stint at the club, six years after leaving by mutual consent.

Many said that the Portuguese would get rid of Torres and bring in his own striker. But Mourinho clearly had other plans. The three pillars of his management are directly related to Torres: superb man management, whereby instilling confidence is essential, hard work and grit shown in the whole 90 minutes and having a winning mentality.

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What Torres needed was a confidence boost, and Mourinho certainly gave him that chance.

In the European Super Cup final against Bayern Munich, the Spaniard repaid the faith shown by Mourinho to start him with a magnificent strike, curling a first-time effort past Manuel Neuer.

The confidence he gained from starting the game, having that sense of backing from Mourinho, was crucial to his performance in that game. And perhaps, it was the starting point of where Torres changed his fortunes at Chelsea.

Inevitably, the calls were too extreme on either side, either far too presumptuous or just outright critical. Was Torres back? Or was this just another glimpse in an otherwise fading career? The majority's view was that it was more the latter, and there was still much to be done.

Since then, he's made 10 appearances in all competitions and has scored four times. Hardly prolific, for sure, but the statistics do not always tell the whole story.

Against Tottenham, he was superb. Chasing every ball, running at players with a fire in his belly. This was what the old Torres was like, and he did everything apart from put the ball in the net. His sending off marred what could have been a memorable game for the 29-year-old, but he's come back stronger since then.

Two goals against Schalke, with a hat-trick certainly on the cards with Torres hitting the bar, showed that, perhaps, Chelsea could rely on the Spaniard as an actual threat in goal. And this was only reinforced when he impressed once more against Manchester City, using his attacking instinct to capitalise on Joe Hart's error and secure a vital three points for the Blues.

The only problem for Chelsea is when to pick Torres and when to use the back-up options in Samuel Eto'o and Demba Ba. Arguably, the latter would have been a better choice in the 2-0 loss to Newcastle, considering the physicality Alan Pardew's side played with, but other than that, his resurgence seems to be having a positive effect on the whole team, as well as the Spaniard.

If he can continue his recent fine form, there's no reason to suggest why he can't challenge for the Golden Boot once more and help Chelsea to their first Premier League title in four years.